Monthly Newsletter - January 2008

For those of you waiting for this newsletter & not aware of the problems in the Rutland Room my computer died in a big way a couple of days after the January board meeting & it was over a week before its return. However it now back after a heavy intermediate overhaul & the new General Manager is hitting the keyboard to bring you up to date with what is happening on the railway & elsewhere.

Before I go into railway matters a few personal items from me. As Finella & I still officially live up country in Oxfordshire until our house sale goes through, I am working down here in 5 day blocks, normally either Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday depending on the need to attend weekend meetings & similar. If anybody wants me to attend a weekend meeting can you please until we move down to Dorset contact me a month beforehand so I can plan my personal life. I am trying to arrange as much as possible midweek meetings at Norden & Corfe at either end of the week on the way in or out of Purbeck to minimize the need for unnecessary addition trips up & down the line whilst trains are not running.

I have a number of areas that I am looking at as the new boy on the scene. As a new pairs eyes I can in my early days look at the railway as visitor would see it. Also I am reviewing the Safety Management System to make sure it is robust & working. The Railway Inspectorate has also asked me to give them my unbiased view of general safety on or about the line. So far most is good, but I am sure that there will be some things I will come across that will need attention.

The weekend winter DMU service is working well & on days when the weather is favorable it has been attended. We have already started looking the possibility of running similar trains in January 2009.

Tidiness on the Railway

I am also trying to go through the various papers, actual & electronic to tidy up the Rutland Room setting an example to other to improve general house keeping on the railway. Other departmental managers have also had gentle reminders about tidiness on the railway in both public & non public areas. As winter maintenance comes to an end but before regular train operations get under way we need a good tidy up of all areas. These bits of fittings, tooling & equipment that are being kept for a rainy day need to be got rid of. It has rained, & they are still on the railway. Dispose of it, either to an official tip or sold as scrap especially as steel scrap prices are high at the moment. Once the Permanent Way & signaling work at Swanage have finished James Cox is planning to bring a couple of skips in to clear scrap & rubbish in the station rail approach area. Also several containers beyond the Engine Shed need to be relocated to improve sighting for the newly installed bracket signal. They were also I believe on an earlier Railway Inspectorate list of improvements required from some time ago.

Thefts off the Railway

We have suffering a numbers of thefts & attempted thefts off our railways in recent weeks. They are obviously after non ferrous metals & tooling for re-sale. Scrap prices are currently very so out of the way places on the railway have become an easy target. However twice now thieves have been disturbed, so life for them is not as easy as they originally thought. If anybody lives near the railway please keep your eyes for anything unusual & immediately contact the police. On both occasions police attended swiftly including the helicopter so third time we may get lucky & catch them. However do not tackle them yourselves. We do not want any dead heroes.

Health & Safety

As many people will know Malcolm Munro stood down as Company Health, Safety & Environmental Officer on the railway prior to my arrival. Firstly thank you Malcolm for all your input in the job in the past. It has certainly helped me in my review of the safety system & he is continuing in various other roles he does at Swanage. However it does leave use with a vacancy in our safety control of our railway. If anybody feels they could assist with either H & S or environmental matters, & the existing job could easily be split, please contact Mike Whitwam as volunteer liaison or myself.

Events

Dave Green has marketing of the Family Fun Week for 16^th to 24^th February well under way as well as starting his move to a new working base at Norden. Whilst we are not now running Thomas apart from not having the visiting locomotive much of the other activities & train operations will be similar with past events. Provided the weather stays kind to us we can but hope the visitors will still flock in. We are doing increased television advertising to encourage them to come. Dave has also attended to recent Excursions exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London to promote the railway to the wider world. News of the disappearance of Thomas is now spreading far & wide with Dave now appearing on regional TV not only talking about the lack of the blue engine but also promoting our new replacement event. Any publicity is good publicity.

Meetings are also in had to fine tune the Railway at Work Weekend where we are amongst other things looking at recruiting more volunteers to help run & maintain our friendly railway. I use that term deliberately as I have been made most welcome here in Purbeck so I would like to think that we can all work together in pulling in new members to the Swanage Railway Trust to help run the show. To most people this railway is their hobby we want to make it enjoyable to all concerned. More people suitably trained will help spread the workload will continue to make the railway a pleasant place to be. Two areas in advance of the event where people have expressed concerns to me are that Ralph Smith is looking for an assistant in the Swanage shop plus additional counter staff. Operations are after new cleaners to eventually progress through the ranks to become firemen. We also could do with assistance across many sections within the Infrastructure team require additional help.

Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon

The M7’s bogie wheels arrived & after extra effort by the Locomotive Department the engine was re-wheeled & tested in time to haul a train on the 22^nd December following problems with 80104. The various movements of 7714, 80078 & 34028 off & on the railway took place on the 3^rd & 4^th January as planned. There were minor repairs required with Eddystone but at the time of writing work is nearly completed, ready for a test steam to take place. 80104 failed with a defective flue tube & a subsequent examination has discovered a cracked rear right hand valve liner. A class 108 DMU car has received body repairs & a re-paint so is looking smart again. The Wessex Belle bar car has now taken its place in Swanage Goods Shed.

Infrastructure

The new crossover & associated signaling work at Swanage is going well with the new trackwork now complete plus the bracket signal in place. Work is slightly behind schedule but it is hoped that the first trains from Swanage will still operate as planned as from the 9^th February. However whilst the big jobs will be completed, it is likely to be June before this is finally signed off as formally inspected & the bay platform can be used for public trains.

Catering

The Bird’s Nest Buffet plus Norden Nest continue to open daily & at weekends respectively. The Wessex Belle is preparing its 2008 menus ready for the new season. We have vacancies for two staff on the Belle, firstly a steward working 40 hours a week, & secondly a housekeeper at 15 hours a week. If you are interested or know somebody else who may be contact, Penny Jones, Andrew Moore or myself for more information.

Staff

The paid staff on the railway received a general 3 ½ % pay rise, in line with inflation as of the 1^st January 2008.

Mick Dean
General Manager
Swanage Railway Company Ltd